Boys’ Water Polo Roundup: Dos Pueblos and San Marcos to Meet in CIF Championship Showdown

For the second consecutive playoff contest an early hole did not rattle the Dos Pueblos High boys’ water polo team. 

The Chargers roared back from a 4-1 deficit, surrendered a 9-6 lead in the final two minutes, and finished off Ventura 10-9 in overtime to advance to CIF-SS Division 2 Championship. Dos Pueblos will take on arch rival San Marcos in the final.

“It wasn’t dramatic enough being down three, we had to be up three and then tied again,” said Dos Pueblos coach Chris Parrish. “{Semifinals} are hard. They’re really hard, especially when you are playing a team that you’re familiar with. It makes it very difficult.”

Dos Pueblos finished behind San Marcos and Ventura in the Channel League this season, but have displayed the poise to thrive in the playoffs after coming from behind to defeat Arcadia in the quarterfinals, 9-8, after trailing 5-2. In addition to defeating Ventura after losing to the 12-6 in the regular season.

“We don’t want to {fall behind}, we certainly don’t want to, but what has been nice, it has happened so many times that they really don’t get rattled,” Parrish said. “They are pretty battle tested. They get it.”

Ventura dominated the first quarter behind two goals from Owen Fonua, the second of which came with 34 seconds remaining in the period and extended the Cougars’ lead to 4-1.

From that point forward, the Dos Pueblos defense locked in and held Ventura to one more goal until midway through the fourth quarter.

Offensively, the Chargers primary weapon Jaden Moore found his stride. Moore scored two second quarter goals in just over a one-minute span, the second of which came on a beautifully placed pass by Dos Pueblos goalkeeper Reggie Robles in between three defenders that Moore gathered and muscled into goal, cutting the Chargers deficit to 4-3 with 1:42 remaining in the second quarter.

“I posted up, I saw Reggie throw the ball, and I thought it was going to be way off. I popped my head up and it was right in my lap,” said Moore of his second goal. “I just turned, shot the ball and it was a goal. It was amazing.”

Dos Pueblos finally evened the score at 5-5 on a goal by Andrew Kline with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter and took a 6-5 lead on a goal by Benjamin Fuhrer as the third quarter buzzer sounded.

Two goals by Freshman Lucas Neushul helped Dos Pueblos build a 9-6 lead with 3:48 remaining in the fourth quarter. It appeared the Chargers would cruise to victory, but Ventura refused to go down quietly.

Two penalty shots that were converted by Evan Augusta at the 2:20 mark and 2 minute mark of the fourth quarter cut the Cougars’ deficit to 9-8. Ventura tied the score at 9-9 with 22 seconds left when Merrick Giles overpowered Robles to come away with the ball and scored into an empty goal forcing overtime.

Fuhrer scored the only goal in overtime with 1:50 remaining in the first overtime period. Robles was the hero for Dos Pueblos down the stretch he blocked a point blank Ventura shot in the closing seconds with his face to preserve the victory.

“The last one he kind of shot right at my face, but I’ll take the blocks where I can get him,” said Robles of his monumental stop. He was spectacular throughout the match as the crowd frequently broke out into “Reggie” chants after big saves.

Dos Pueblos will now play in its first CIF Championship match since 2017 on Saturday at a time and location to be determined.

San Marcos, 13; Portola, 6

Luke Burns scored four goals and Nic Prentice chipped in three goals as the Royals overcame a slow start offensively and cruised to a victory in the semifinals.

It is the first CIF Finals appearance for San Marcos since 2003. The last time the Royals won the CIF Championship was 1994.

“It’s a privilege to coach these guys. They’re an amazing group of guys,” said San Marcos coach Peera Sukavivatanachai, who took over the program in 2018. “We’re very fortunate to have guys like this and the opportunity to compete at this level.”